The Is and Isn'ts of Li Kouyuu
by drinktea
Summary: Post Episode 19. Hakumei's first day at the Civil Affairs department. In which Hakumei spills his tea, Reishin lifts his eyebrows, and Kouyuu... well. That's not hard to guess.


_Disclaimer: Saiunkoku Monogatari does not belong to me._

Author natterings: My first venture into the Saiunkoku universe! This piece features Hakumei, Kouyuu, Reishin, and a brief mention of Shuurei and Official Ro. I'm thinking about doing a second part, only in Kouyuu's point of view. If you'd like, tell me what you think - about that idea and this piece. Thanks for reading.

**The Is and Isn'ts of Li Kouyuu**

Heki Hakumei was starting his first day of work as an official.

Now, most people hated the idea of waking up and having to do work. But Hakumei found, that this very first day, he was more excited than might have ever been before in his life.

_Li Kouyuu!_ the thought shot into his mind, white hot, making him jump and spill his tea all down the front of his robe.

After he had changed into his second best robe (not as striking, but still okay), he set out for the palace. His mother, smiling at him like mad and making comments about Li Kouyuu and how wasn't it just wonderful that Hakumei got to work with him, and wasn't he handsome, and so on, didn't help his nerves. But it was the sentiment that mattered, and Hakumei left home with a bouyant spirit.

The walk let him think things through more calmly. Hakumei was by habit a very cool, collected person. He hoped this would actually hold true in the face of Li Kouyuu-sama. The thought of stuttering or freezing up in front of Li Kouyuu... Hakumei shuddered. That wouldn't do.

Despite his calming walk, upon entering the Civil Affairs Administration building, the air cool and smelling of books and ink, Hakumei's nerves returned. What if he turned the corner and saw Li Kouyuu-sama, and couldn't think of anything to say? Or what if Li Kouyuu-sama was busy with the Emperor today, and Hakumei didn't see him at all? He couldn't decide which was worse.

Hakumei took a right. Out of all the shinshi this year, only he had been appointed to the Civil Affairs department. He'd heard that some shinshi weren't appointed at _all_, because they had bribed Official Ro into lightening their workloads during those laborious months before appointment.

Worse though were the stories of Kou Reishin. He drove his staff hard, and a very select few were able to handle such a workload. Kou Reishin was also notorious for his calculating personality and as an excellent judge of character. He couldn't abide anyone who was disrespectful, spoiled or foolish. _Luckily,_ Hakumei thought, _I don't plan on being any of those._

He stopped a few feet away from an intricately carved doorway, the indication of the head office. He was early. He'd heard that Kou Reishin also hated people who weren't on time. He'd wait, down to the last minute.

Hakumei looked out the window, the sill of the same dark wood as the doorway.

For Kou Reishin, such a critical person, to recognize the potential in Kouyuu-sama at a glance, meant that not only was Kouyuu-sama incredible, but Kou Reishin as well. (Not many knew the story of Li Kouyuu-sama's adoption. Hakumei, admittedly fascinated with the young prodigy, had slowly gathered bits of knowledge on his idol.) 

"Reishin-sama, isn't Shuurei's success payback enough?" 

Hakumei's ears perked naturally. The voice was coming from the office. He leaned against the wall next to the entrance, nonchalant. Shuurei, that girl. He hoped she was doing well... 

"What you say does have some validity," came the unmistakable voice of the head of the Kou clan. "However, by making his issue with my niece personal, he has taken up an issue with myself as well."

A sigh, presumedly from the person Reishin-sama was talking to. When the voice spoke, Hakumei confirmed that it was a man. "But to pay him back in this way..." 

Hakumei started. Matters of revenge? Oh, he didn't-- shouldn't be hearing this.

"What of it? You must admit, it will be effective. That man must learn what it is to abuse a member of the Kou clan." A pause. "You included."

A pregnant pause. Hakumei's curiosity was going to kill him, wasn't it? 

"Reishin-sama..."

Kou Reishin's voice suddenly carried, loud and clear, out the office door. "Come in, young official."

Oh, crap. He was as good as dead. Reishin had known the whole time?

Hakumei walked into the office, his eyes lowered, his manner deferential. "Good morning, Kou Reishin-sama. I am Heki Hakumei." He started to explain just why he'd been loitering outside and had therefore heard a private conversation, but he had frozen. In his looking up from the floor to see Reishin's face and make a proper, sincere apology, he had seen who Reishin was talking to.

Li Kouyuu. In the flesh. 

Reishin noted this split-second amazement and the pause that followed. He chose to fill it. "Heki Hakumei. I will take note of your desire for punctuality."

Hakumei hoped he wasn't gawking. What was this man? A mindreader? But then, so fast it could only have come from nowhere, _Li Kouyuu!_

"I see you have noticed the Vice-Secretary. Heki-san, Li Kouyuu."

Li Kouyuu raised his gaze to Hakumei, his expression jerking from thoughtful to neutral. What had he been thinking about? "Hello, Hakumei-san."

Hakumei gave a small bow of respect, grappling with his composure. Right there! Li Kouyuu was right there! "Hello, Li Kouyuu-sama."

And then, so slight, Kouyuu smiled a genuine smile.

"Heki Hakumei. Are you not the child who offered to work in place of Kou Shuurei and To Eigetsu?" Reishin's tone of voice seemed to command an answer. 

Hakumei kept his gaze steady, looking straight at Reishin, though it was hard to, with his idol standing right _there_. "Yes, Kou Reishin-sama." It was then that he noticed both men staring at him, though he could see only Reishin. Somehow, he felt Kouyuu looking.

Reishin kept his gaze on the boy, his stare unwavering. Still, the boy did not look away. Reishin turned in his chair, averting his gaze and upturning his lips the smallest bit. Heki Hakumei would meet with his approval. The Emperor had chosen well. Not to mention, the boy had a discerning taste, choosing Kouyuu. "Kouyuu."

Hakumei broke his stare as if waking from a daze, the bold wood pattern over Reishin's window now unblurring. He saw Kouyuu turn ever so slightly to more face his adoptive father. This thought struck him hard in this instant. Li Kouyuu, Vice-Secretary of the Civil Affairs Administration, Advisor to the Emperor of Saiunkoku, and very likely the next Prime Minister of the country, was also a son.

"Yes, Reishin-sama," Li Kouyuu stood almost at attention, like a soldier.

"You will show Heki-san the more complicated workings of the department." 

Kouyuu gave a small bow to show his conceding. Reishin chose this moment to stretch to say something quietly in the ear of his Vice-Secretary, and nod. Hakumei felt more like an intrusion than anything else at this moment, but refused to shuffle awkwardly in front of father and son. Kouyuu crossed the room to Hakumei, badly hiding a look of surprise. They walked together to the door.

"I will see you both in the evening," Reishin bid them goodbye, moved to lean over his paperwork, and then disappeared past the doorframe.

The two had taken thirty or so paces when Hakumei could no longer stand it. He was with Li Kouyuu, the person he'd looked up to and aimed to be like for as long as he could remember. He had to speak with him. If only he could figure out how without seeming rude or strange. (It was a secret fear he'd developed in the days since he'd been told his post - that Li Kouyuu-sama would hate him.)

The prodigy beat him to it. "So, you helped Shuurei-chan, is that right?"

Hakumei felt a stab of jealousy. Shuurei and Li Kouyuu-sama were on familiar terms? "Yes. She was working too much." The first thing he would talk about with his idol was a girl who was smarter than himself? Shuurei was nice, but this wasn't the way Hakumei saw his first conversation with Li Kouyuu going.

"Yes. Shuurei is a hard worker," Kouyuu agreed, his gaze firmly ahead.

Hakumei let his brief stint of jealousy dissipate. He watched the other man for awhile. Kouyuu-sama was obviously a very alert individual. His eyes scanned the hallways intensely and he seemed fully concentrated on the task at hand. This only affirmed Hakumei's belief in Li Kouyuu-sama. He was a complete genius, only three years older than Hakumei himself, and so amazingly accomplished.

"I have heard you are very hard working as well, Hakumei-san," Kouyuu-sama's tone was friendly. They had stopped walking temporarily, standing in a corner with a large vase, bamboo sprouting from it, for company. Kouyuu-sama didn't sound like he was saying that out of pure politeness. 

Hakumei made an effort not to stutter and hung onto his modesty. "Really? Where from?"

"Official Ro. It's not easy to gain praise from that man, you know," Kouyuu said, a look of fondness on his face. He looked so... mature. "You must have impressed him. Amazing." And Li Kouyuu smiled a half-smile.

Though Hakumei got the impression that Kouyuu-sama was doing this to help some of Hakumei's evident remaining nerves, he couldn't help but notice the smile. He smiled back. "I'm not amazing. You, Kouyuu-sama, are amazing." 

Kouyuu's face said that he was unused to receiving compliments, but Hakumei knew the volume of praise he received must've been gigantic. Still, he somehow looked genuine about it. Surprised that anyone could think his accomplishments astonishing. 

Hakumei went on, cursing his juvenile excitement. "Becoming the Emperor's trusted advisor in so short a time! Is that the Flower of Trust?"

Kouyuu looked less surprised, now glancing at the jade stone engraved with the flower Ryuuki had given him, the purple iris, hanging from around his waist. "Yes." He began looking around again, and Hakumei fell silent to let him think. They started walking again, Hakumei falling behind Kouyuu to make a discouraged face.

Ugh, bad move. Kouyuu didn't seem very interested in talking about himself at all. Still, Hakumei wanted to know him, and how could he accomplish anything by not talking? 

Hakumei looked from their shoes to spy a very familiar looking plant. Hadn't he seen that before? Yes, yes he had. Seven open blooms, one yet to open. All yellow. Hakumei had a staggeringly good memory. Why had they passed this twice, yet still had to enter any rooms?

"Don't tell me you're lost again," the authorative voice of Reishin came from behind the wall.

Lost again? Hakumei had never been here before. How could he get lost... again?

Realization dawned on Hakumei very slowly. To reflect this, it seemed fitting that he turned his gaze very slowly towards...

Kouyuu looked, for the first time to Hakumei, very embarassed and flustered. His hair was conveniently covering his eyes, his shoulders were edging up to his ears, and his cheeks were plainly pink.

Reishin looked on, unaffected by either of them. Leaning back in his chair, he called into the hallway, "I've told you to just ask for directions, Kouyuu. If you can't find your way around, take him to your office. Surely you know where that is." He finished this with an eyebrow lift, then went back to his papers, brush balanced over the sheets.

The silence that followed seemed charged with Kouyuu's frustration at himself and Reishin, the energy coming off of him palpable. Then Kouyuu made a sound akin to a grunt, uttered a clipped, "Follow, Hakumei-san," and turned back around. Hakumei, too confused at this point to analyze anything beyond the command in the words, followed.

But waitaminute. Something was a bit fuzzy with this picture. Li Kouyuu-sama, breaker of the Jougen spot record as it was for nearly twenty years, rising political star, and Hakumei's role model _forever_, couldn't navigate a building he'd inhabited for nearly four years? 

Kouyuu-sama... was _bad_ at something?

"Kouyuu-sama is bad at something?"

They'd approached the entrance to Kouyuu's office, Kouyuu still faintly pink with anger. He turned his torso partially to look at the boy stalling like some faulty piece of machinery.

"Yes, I'm bad at something," he said, sounding like he had to restrict himself, but also kind of not. "Is that so surprising?"

Hakumei took a second. He just blinked.

Kouyuu gave a half scoff. "Well," he began, then leant against the doorframe, oddly pensive inside his angry/embarassed mood. "Everyone's bad at something." 

Hakumei stared somewhat blankly at Kouyuu, a stubborn look on his idol's face. Even though his eyes were closed, his attitude on this was clearly firmly set.

He was being very ridiculous, he knew. Juvenile. Of course everyone was bad at something. He just didn't think Kouyuu-sama's flaw would be so... basic as potentially not being able to find the bathroom.

Thinking of that sent a spark of humor across Hakumei's face. When he really thought about it, he could see how that piece of the puzzle would fit.

Kouyuu's voice broke him startlingly from his thoughts. "So, come in!" he ordered, sounding like a longtime friend reprimanding him for standing out too long in the cold.

Hakumei entered Kouyuu-sama's office. It was very large, books and scrolls heaped on almost every available surface, with a clear path leading to his desk. The office smelt faintly of flowers, but it wasn't girly enough to be bothersome. The white walls reflected the light coming in through the windows, making the office bright and welcoming. Behind Kouyuu's desk was a huge painting of plum blossoms. Hakumei found himself staring at it all.

"A gift from Reishin-sama," Kouyuu said now, noticing Hakumei's reaction. But Hakumei was already going over other parts of the office, eyes lingering here and there, catching on details. They finally stopped on a box of scrolls. 

"What are these?" He went straight to them, then, suddenly remembering his manners and to play it cool (though the time for that did seem kind of overdue), he stopped himself. He was surprised at his lack of nervousness, his casual manner. Or maybe he shouldn't have been. He'd seen now that Kouyuu-sama - though a cut above the rest in his eyes, always - was too a person. His clothes would snag, ink would smudge on his skin. He got annoyed, he could be surprised.

"Are these... marriage proposals?" Hakumei stared at the box, its label reading 'To the Lovely Li Kouyuu', the writing cursive and cultured, almost mocking in its message. He peered in discreetly, not wanting to seem too intrusive. Something heavy sat at the bottom.

Kouyuu cleared his throat very suddenly and strode toward his desk, his back to Hakumei. "Er. Yes." Once he'd shifted he'd allowed for a glimpse of his face however, and his eyebrows were furrowed. His cheeks were, again, turning a shade of pink.

Hakumei let the scrolls alone, turning fully to face Kouyuu, who was still semi-hiding.

Well, he'd gotten what he wanted. He now knew more about Li Kouyuu. He was the Vice-Secretary of the Civil Affairs department, Advisor to the Emperor, and likely the next Prime Minister of the country. He broke a long-time record for Jougen at age sixteen, was a rising political star. He was Hakumei's role model.

He had a terrible sense of direction, and was easily brought to angry embarassment. He cared for his adoptive father. He wasn't quite as innocent as he came across. He was Hakumei's role model. This was surer than it had ever been. 

He cleared his throat now, asking what Hakumei would like to see. Hakumei, on a devious hunch, wanted to answer, _the marriage proposals_. He smiled at Kouyuu, seeing him in a truly new light. Kouyuu, despite himself, smiled sheepishly back.

Hakumei knew that his second day as an official would be even better than his first.


End file.
